In an effort to make sure all voters receive the proper ballot, the Shelby County Election Commission has added an extra step that chairman Robert Meyers said could slow the voting process for everyone in Thursday's elections.

The ballots will feature state and federal primaries, Shelby County general elections and suburban referendums related to the creation of municipal school districts.

Ballot problems following redistricting of state House and Senate and U.S. House voting boundaries led to more than 3,000 voters appearing to cast ballots in incorrect races during the early voting period. The majority of the incorrect ballots involved state House party primaries, although some of those are uncontested.

Problems related to the referendums on municipal school districts in six suburban towns were corrected in the first week of early voting, but problems continued in state and federal primaries.

Those voters most likely affected by the problems will be on a list at every precinct, and when someone shows up to vote who has been identified as a potential victim of the computer glitch, poll workers will attempt to ensure the proper ballot is issued and voted upon.

"We're working very hard to see that there are no errors," Meyers said. "But there are so many potential voters, it is possible there will be errors."

Meyers said the checks could create delays, although early-voting turnouts suggest volume should not be especially great for election-day voting.

"In spite of working around the clock and the state working around the clock ... we have not been able to completely rectify the problem and that's why we put these other steps in the process to make sure every voter is able to vote on the correct ballot," Meyers said.

Close observers of voter participation and turnout alerted the commission during early voting that about 5 percent of people voting each day were casting votes in the wrong districts. Joe Weinberg, a Democratic campaign consultant who helped identify the problems, said Tuesday the final count for early voting showed that 3,163 voters had been affected.

Meyers said it remains unclear why the computer systems are creating so many errors, but promises a thorough evaluation after the election.

State officials have also ordered a performance audit of Shelby County's election process and election systems.

The commission anticipates voter turnout on Election Day could be higher than might be expected based on the 10.2 percent early-voting turnout of 62,600 voters, because some voters may have chosen to wait after widespread reports of ballot problems. The turnout reports during early voting suggest that the municipal school referendums helped drive a larger-than-usual turnout in non-Memphis precincts, and that in turn has led to a higher-than-normal percentage of voters asking for Republican ballots in Shelby County. Non-Memphis precincts showed turnout of 15.1 percent compared to 8.5 percent turnout in Memphis. A late surge by Democrats closed early Republican leads with the final tally of 30,638 voters participating in Democratic primaries and 30,584 in Republican.

Appointed incumbent Dist. Atty. Amy Weirich, a political newcomer facing former City Council member and former longtime Democratic state legislator Carol Chumney, has embraced her role on the top of the Republican ticket. Other countywide races involve Assessor of Property, with incumbent Democrat Cheyenne Johnson facing Republican nominee Tim Walton, a county fireman and veteran property appraiser; and, for Gen. Sessions Court Clerk, Democratic nominee Ed Stanton Jr. facing juvenile court process server Rick Rout.

In a contest to complete the final two years of a District 1 County Commission term, Republican business executive Steve Basar faces Steve Ross, a Democratic activist who along with Weinberg raised the alarm about voting problems.

In the race for the unified Shelby County Board of Education, there is one uncontested race and four contested seats in Memphis districts and two in the suburbs, with several political rookies in some cases challenging veteran board representatives of suburban Shelby County Schools and Memphis City Schools.

Redistricting by the state's Republican majorities has forced six veteran Democratic state legislators in Memphis to battle for three seats — two in the House and one in the state Senate.

Redistricting also means that Shelby County is involved in voting in only two congressional districts, with Republican and Democratic primaries in the 9th and 8th Districts. The 9th incumbent, Steve Cohen, is being challenged by MCS board representative and Urban League CEO Tomeka Hart in the Democratic primary, with big-spending radiologist and radio station magnate George Flinn challenging 2010 Republican nominee Charlotte Bergmann on the other side of the ballot.

In the 8th, freshman Congressman Stephen Fincher, a deep-pocketed farmer and gospel singer from Weakley County, has two poorly-funded challengers in the Republican primary. The only Shelby County resident in the race is Tim Dixon, a Democrat who lives in Germantown.

In U.S. Senate primaries, incumbent Bob Corker is expected to dominate against token opposition in the Republican primary.